U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Laporte says Apple and Amazon must have to attend a settlement discussion on March 21, with executives present who are in a position to be able to negotiate a binding agreement regarding the ongoing battle over the use of "app store," reports "TechCrunch" (http://tinyurl.com/ayvoape).

Earlier this month Amazon.com won a dismissal of a of a claim by Apple Inc. that the online retailer’s use of the term “app store” for Android device software constitutes false advertising, reports "Bloomberg" (http://tinyurl.com/aox784e).

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton in Oakland, California, granted Amazon’s request to toss the claim. She said in an order that she found "no support for the proposition that Amazon has expressly or impliedly communicated that its Appstore for Android possesses the characteristics and qualities that the public has come to expect from the Apple APP Store and/or Apple products."

Last year Apple sued Amazon, saying the online retailer is using Apple’s “App Store” trademark for a mobile-software developer program. In a complaint filed March 18, 2011, in federal court in northern California, Apple accused Amazon.com of trademark infringement and unfair competition and asked for a judge’s order to prevent the company from using the "App Store" name, as well as for unspecified damages.

Apple registered for a trademark on the term App Store on July 17, 2008. It has been using the name since then to refer to its applications store for iOS devices. Earlier this year it also launched the Mac App Store.

"Amazon has begun improperly using Apple’s App Store mark in connection with Amazon’s mobile-software developer program," Apple said in the complaint. Amazon also plans to use the name with a mobile-software download service, the complaint states.

Amazon began using the App Store designation around the beginning of this year, according to the lawsuit. “Amazon has unlawfully used the App Store mark to solicit software developers throughout the United States," Apple claimed in its suit. In the court filing, Apple said in the court filing that it contacted Amazon three times to demand that it cease using the name and that Amazon hadn’t "provided a substantive response."